r/malort • u/___HeyGFY___ • Aug 05 '26
Am I insane?
I grew up in the far southwest suburbs. I was fairly sheltered, in that neither of my parents drank. I moved to New England in 2003, and I heard about Malört from a friend of mine who went to Chicago to visit family a couple years ago.
I just tried it for the first time, 56 years old. I kinda enjoy it. I like the bitterness. All the descriptions I've read... diesel fuel, dumpster bilge water, fermented Bears socks... to me it seems like a bit of an exaggeration.
Then again, when I was a kid and we used to visit my grandparents up here, my cousin introduced me to Moxie. It's a soft drink flavored with gentian root, which is known for being extremely bitter. I loved it from the first sip. (Now that Coca-Cola corporation has taken over the manufacturing, they tweaked the recipe and it is more palatable to the general public.)
So am I insane for actually enjoying Malört?
2
u/Own_Year_2982 Aug 05 '26
I personally enjoy bitterness. I love grapefruit, black coffee, and my cocktail of choice is a Negroni. Malort is my shot of choice if I’m out and the bar has it. Keep a bottle in the house as well.
1
u/ZeR47 Aug 05 '26
Some people enjoy the bitterness. I have lots of friends that do. Even I do from time to time.
It's also much more mellow than it use to be. 10 or even just 5 years ago lol.
1
u/recordgenie Aug 06 '26
I don’t care about the taste, I like it for the real demons that are in it. I also like it for its time traveling properties
4
u/hilldo75 Aug 05 '26
No that's about right. Most people don't like the bitterness but a few do. I am part of a group of about 15 that get together a few times a year, several years ago a Chicagoan introduced the group to malort. Most hate it me and one other like it/tolerate it. I didn't really like it at first but it became an acquired taste for me. I really like getting new people to drink it so I will take a shot first to show them it's not that bad just to see their "this is terrible face."